


An unexpected detour

by stjarna



Series: Writing Prompts / Drabbles / Requests [7]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, More than they've bargained for, Tumblr Prompt, Writing Prompt, Writing prompt: "You're getting a vasectomy. That's final."
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-29 01:43:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8470759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stjarna/pseuds/stjarna
Summary: adacnomaniadancer requested Nr. 45 + Fitzsimmons from a list of writing prompts on Tumblr.The task: Incorporate the phrase “You're getting a vasectomy. That's final.” into your fic/drabble.And that's the only summary you'll get!





	

Melissa grabs the clipboard and glances at the information for her next patient.

_ Jemma Simmons, 31 years, no previous pregnancies _ . A little post-it note with two intertwined circles had been stuck on the file by the nurse, indicating that the woman’s partner was accompanying her. Generally a good sign.

She had been an ultrasound technician for close to twenty years; long enough that her first glimpse of the patient and the posse that followed told her a lot about what to expect. Pregnancy had many faces, and Melissa had seen them all. There was the jittery nervousness of an unplanned pregnancy, sometimes mixed with a hint of indecisiveness as to how to proceed. There was the sad and hopeful nervousness of those who had been trying for months or even years and were now hoping for a final confirmation, yet still scared it could be another false alarm. There were the happy and excited first-timers. And the calm and happy couple with three other kids already waiting at home, and yet equally happy to be expecting number four. There were the teen pregnancies. Most of the time, those were the ones most scared; some with supportive parents, others with judging ones, some alone, some with their boyfriends.

It had become part of Melissa’s routine: enter the room, study the patient, study whomever might accompany her, and then adjust her bedside manners accordingly. Sometimes that meant keeping her distance, remaining unemotional; sometimes she was allowed to let the excitement sweep her away and brighten her day.

She knocks and opens the door slowly once she hears a muffled “Yes” from inside.

She peeks inside, the short delay allowing her to glimpse the couple sitting next to the desk. Their upper bodies are close together, shoulders touching. Their four hands have built a little stack. His hand is at the bottom, facing up, her right forms the top of the tower. He’s the caregiver, she’s the boss. At least that’s what experience has taught her. They’re both looking at the door, smiling widely, that excited first-timer smile, the one that can’t wait for her to come in and do her job.

Melissa smiles. This should be a happy one.

“Hi, I’m Melissa, the ultrasound technician,” she says, entering the room. “And you must be Jemma.”

“Yes,” the young woman replies, reaching out to shake Melissa’s hand.  _ Firm handshake. Strong, confident,  _ Melissa makes a mental note.

“And this is my husband, Fitz,” Jemma continues.

“Nice to meet you, Fitz,” Melissa says. The young man hesitates for a second to pull his hand out from underneath the safe little stack of hands, before shaking Melissa’s. Melissa notices his leg, twitching nervously.

He was the nervous wreck, she was the voice of reason. He was the one worrying about everything that could go wrong, she was the one citing statistics to calm him down. Melissa had seen that combination many times. It was almost the norm with first time pregnancies: one was calm, the other frantic; which was the mom-to-be and which was the partner varied.

Melissa sits down at the desk. “So, your OB/GYN sent you here for your first ultrasound. Sort of a final confirmation for any pregnancy test you may have taken and to see how the fetus is doing. Basically what I’m gonna do…”

“Melissa,” the woman interrupts her, “may I call you Melissa?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I have a bit of a medical background myself. There’s really no need for layman’s terms. In fact, I’d appreciate it if you would refrain from … well… dumbing things down.” She smiles and adds, “I hope I’m not being rude.”

“Not at all,” Melissa replies earnestly. “I appreciate the heads-up.” She somewhat questioningly looks at Jemma’s husband.

“He’s quite familiar with the terms himself,” Jemma explains.

_ Observant _ , Melissa notices.

“Yep,” the man replies shyly, “I really am.” It’s the first time he has spoken and Melissa tries to discern his accent from his few words.  _ Scottish maybe _ .

“Alright,” Melissa says, “in that case, I think I’ll skip over the explanatory section of your visit and go straight to some mandatory questions I have to ask before we can move on to the actual ultrasound. Sound good?”

“Yes, absolutely,” Jemma replies, while Fitz nods.

After they have completed the initial assessment questionnaire, Melissa leaves the room to give Jemma time to change into her gown.

* * *

Melissa sees Jemma’s stomach muscles tensing when the cool gel hits her skin. “Sorry ‘bout that,” she apologizes, like she’s done for twenty years, and as usual she is greeted with a friendly, “Oh, no worries.”

Gently, she pushes the sensor into the young woman’s abdomen and begins moving it around, trying to find the fetus. She doesn’t have to look for long. “Well, there we have it,” she exclaims. “Definitely a baby in there.”

She glances over at the young couple. Jemma’s eyes are beaming, staring at the small white shrimp in a sea of black on the screen mounted to the wall. The husband is pressing his lips together. His eyes are welling up. Her favorite kind of father-to-be, the one immediately overwhelmed with love for his child.

“I’ll try to get a slightly better angle. Then I can turn on the audio so we can hear the heartbeat,” Melissa notes, and the couple simply nods in silence.

She moves the sensor around a bit further.

“Hold on,” Jemma suddenly exclaims, pointing at the screen. “Did I just see…?”

_ Oh, she is good _ , Melissa thinks.

“Ummm, yes,” Melissa replies. “I believe you did, but let me double-check.”

Jemma’s eyes seem to have doubled in size, as if it would help her to see the ultrasound picture better.

“What?” her husband asks, noticeably nervous. “What did you see? Everything okay?”

“Yes, everything is okay,” Melissa tries to calm him down, “but it looks like we might be dealing with multiples here.”

“Twins?” Fitz asks, surprised.

“One second,” Melissa replies. She notices that her patient has fallen completely silent, staring at the screen. Carefully, Melissa moves the sensor across Jemma’s abdomen, her experienced eyes quickly confirming a second …  _ oh now wait _ … She takes a deep breath.

Jemma looks pale, and for a moment Melissa worries that the news has actually caused her to stop breathing. She can tell from the young woman’s face that the father is the only one in the room who isn’t in the loop yet.

“Alright,” Melissa takes heart. She didn’t get to deliver this kind of news often, but she had done it enough to know what kind of reactions to expect. “There are definitely  _ three _ fetuses.”

Fitz’s mouth gapes open. He glances at his wife, who is still staring at the screen, where an image of the third fetus remains visible.

“Triplets?” The word escapes his lips as if someone had punched all the air out of his lungs. His eyes wander to the screen.

Shock. Yep. That was pretty common.

“You’re getting a vasectomy. That’s final!” Jemma exclaims, her head whipping around to face her husband, who stares back at her as if his entire brain has just gone missing.

Melissa tries to suppress laughter but can’t hide it completely. “That’s a new one,” she says, without even meaning to say it out loud.

“What?” the couple replies in unison, both heads turning in her direction.

Melissa smiles. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just that I’ve been doing this job for  _ twenty _ years and have had my share of announcing that there’s more than one baby in the mix… and… well  _ his _ reaction…  _ very _ common. A few expletives…  _ very _ common. But I don’t think I’ve  _ ever _ had the first words come out of the mother’s mouth be ‘You’re getting a vasectomy.’”

Her patient just sits in silence for a moment, breathing heavily.  _ At least she  _ **_is_ ** _ breathing again _ , Melissa thinks, not saying anything, trying to give the couple a moment to digest the news.

Her husband’s voice is barely above a whisper when he speaks up. “I’d like to discuss the matter of my reproductive organs later maybe… in private.”

Melissa covers her mouth with her hand, trying to disguise the grin creeping up as a thoughtful gesture.

“Oh yes?” Jemma exclaims, raising her voice noticeably. “What about  _ my _ reproductive organs? There are  _ three _ human beings inside my uterus.  **_THREE!_ ** We said we’d want  _ two _ . Three’s  _ more _ than two. Three’s more than I bargained for. What kind of sperm do you harvest?”

“Panic is also a very common reaction,” Melissa interjects in a meager attempt to diffuse the situation.

“Oh shut up, what do you know?” the young woman replies angrily, and immediately covers her mouth with both hands.

“And anger,” Melissa replies softly.

Her patient is on the verge of hyperventilating now. Her eyes are welling up as panic starts to become the dominant feeling.

“I’m sorry,” the young woman mutters, her hands moving from her mouth to her chest, trying to steady her breathing, “I didn’t mean to…”

“No worries, honey,” Melissa comforts her. “I’ve been called a lot worse.”

She takes a deep breath, before continuing. “Look, when I came in here you two were the  _ epitome _ of excited and happy first-time parents-to-be. You couldn’t  _ wait _ to confirm your pregnancy. I mean, Jemma, you strike me as a woman who probably peed on  _ three _ sticks to make sure the  _ first _ positive result was accurate.”

“Five,” Fitz mumbles quietly, and Jemma glares at him, but then her eyes soften just as quickly.

“Three. Five. Ten. It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Melissa tells her patient. “It just means you’re  _ really _ excited about having a baby with your husband.”

A smile flashes across Jemma’s face, and Fitz’s mouth quirks up as well.

“And yes,” Melissa continues, nodding sympathetically, “three’s more than you bargained for. I  _ definitely _ get that… But three it is.” She shrugs her shoulders.

“Now, for today,” Melissa suggests, “my advice is to allow yourselves to freak out about it… together, and then call your families, call your friends. You strike me as a couple who has a  _ few _ people close to their hearts. Chances are, they’ll be excited, and since  _ they _ don’t have to deal with the immediate panic of ‘three kids in one try’  _ their _ enthusiasm might just rub off on you. … Allow yourselves to panic. That’s okay. And  _ then _ , make a game plan. You’re a very intelligent woman, Jemma, and even though your husband hasn’t said more than ten words during this appointment, he seems to be a smart cookie himself.”

“He is,” the young woman admits quietly, glancing at her husband, whose hand has once again reached for hers, squeezing it gently.

“You’ll work it out,” Melissa tells the couple. “Together. You have  _ months _ to plan. I’ll start you off with some brochures on multiple births, sample vitamins. I’ll do one more round to get you some pictures of your babies that you can take home, and the front desk can help you schedule your next few appointments. I’ve done this for twenty years. I’ve seen enough to be able to tell you that you’ll do just fine. One baby or three.”

Jemma sighs, nodding quietly. Then she turns to her husband. “I’m not taking that vasectomy option off the table yet,” she says sternly, and Melissa bites her lips to stop the laughter bubbling once more under the surface.

“I’ll  _ happily _ discuss the vasectomy option,” he replies earnestly, “but maybe  _ after _ we get through the triplet pregnancy? It’s not like I can get you  _ more _ pregnant right now?”

“The man’s got a point,” Melissa comments.

Jemma nods. Suddenly a smile flashes across her face and she turns to face her husband. “We’ll be parents,” she whispers, her eyes welling up.

Fitz sniffs, wiping a tear off his cheek. “Yeah, we will be,” he replies, equally quiet.

Melissa smiles. It  _ had _ been a happy appointment after all — just with an unexpected detour.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll admit, this was one of the more challenging prompts to come up with an idea for. I hope you liked it.


End file.
